Tuft frame for tufted-pile fabric looms



May 14, 1929. c. ALvoRD 1,713,506

TUFT FRAME FOR TUFTED FILE? FABRIC LOOMS Filed Nov. 24, 1928 2Sheets-Sheet 1 lnvenror' Clmron Alvord b /mlzlmakf May 14, 1929. c.ALVORD TUFT FRAME FOR 'IUFTED FILE FABRIC LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledNov. 24, 1928 Fig. 6.

Inverflor.

A\vord CHnTon Patented May 14, 1929.

CLINTON ALV OBD, WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

TUIT FRAME 'FOR TUFTED-PILE FABRIC LOOMS.

Application filed November. 24, 1928. Serial No. 321,695.

This invention relates to the tuft frames employed in looms for weavingtufted pile fabric such as Axminster carpets. Such frames are suspendedon a carrier, by means of which at the required time and in accordancewith the desired pattern they are successively presented to thetuft-forming mechanism of the loom. Each frame supports one or morespools containing wound thereon the strands of tuft yarn and is providedwith devices for spacing the several yarn strands and presenting them inposition to be taken by the tuft-forming mechanism. The latter mechanismusually comprises a series of grippers, one pair for each yarn strand,and consequently the spacing and presenting means is arranged to presentthe several yarn strands to the grippers. These ,grippers, after seizingthe yarn strandstdraw off from the spools the length required to formthe tufts andthen these lengths are severed from the strands.

The present invention has for its chief object to provide in connectionwith the tuft frame a simple and efficient means for separating andguiding the yarn strands and presenting them to the tuft-formingmechanisms such as the grippers.

The invention has for its further object to provide such a separatingand guiding means in which the yarn strands may readily be threadedbroadside into the spaced yarn passages and retained therein sopositioned as to be accurately and surely seized by the grippers. r

The invention has for its further object to provide such a yarn guideas'an integral ticularly such a yarn guide formed of a strip of sheetmetal punched, crimped and formed into the required shape, thusfacilitating manufacture and insuring identity of all the partswhichseparate and guide the plurality of yarn strands. K

The invention has for its furtherobject to provide such a tuft frame inwhich the yarnspacing and guiding means-are readily and accuratelypositioned throughout, thus insuring uniformity. W

These and other objects and features of the invention will appear morefully from the accompanying description and drawings and will beparticularly pointed out-in the claims.

As the general construction, purpose and use of a tuft frame for atufted pile fabric loom are well known and familiar to those skilled inthe art, and as the invention relates only to the yarn spacing andguiding features .of the tuft frame, it is sufficient here to illustrateand describe one form of such a tuft frame with preferred forms of theinvention embodied therein.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a frontelevation partially broken away of atuft frame-shown equipped with three yarn carrying spools.

' Fig. 2 is a view in vertical cross section taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 1. Q Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a portion ofa yarn guide embodying the invention as it appears before and afterbeing crimped or formed into shape and a portion of one of the attachingcombs preferably employed.

Fig. 4 is a transverse cross section of a portion of a slightlydifferent form of yarn guide.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of'a portion of a yarn guide such as shownin Fig. 4 as it appears before and after being crimped or formed intoshape. 7

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary top plan view partially in horizontal crosssection of a portion of the construction shown in Fig. 1, but on anenlarged scale embodying the invention.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective. view partially broken away shownin'Fig. '1 and looking toward the bottom.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail in front elevation of a slightlydifferent form of yarn guide embodying the invention. one-piece unitcomprising a plurality of the yarn spacing and guiding passages and par-Fig. 9 is a view in side elevation and partially in vertical crosssection of the construction shown in Fig. 1 with the end of a pair ofgrippersshown in position about to seize a. yarn strand.

Fig. 10 is a view generally similar to Fig. 9 showing a variation'in themeans for attaching the yarn guide to the tuft frame.

The tuft frame is shown as comprising a main body bar 1 preferably Ihollow metal beam of rectangular cross section thus presenting with theminimum weight great strength and rigidity. This body bar is provided atits ends with the usual hangers 2 by which the tuft frame is detachablysuspended on the usual carrier. Suitable brackets 3 are supported on thebody bar and in these brackets are journalled the yarn carrying spools 4of which there may be of the construction.

in the form of a q one or more as required by the width of the fabricbeing woven.

sages, there being one such yarn passage for each strand of yarndelivered from the spools 4. The yarn guide therefore extendssubstantially the entire length of the body bar and may be made in oneor more sections ac-' cording to the length of the body bar, or as maybe desired. Each section of the yarn guide is an integral one-piecestructure prefretaining finger. The strip is then crimped' erably formedfrom a stri of suitable sheet metal. Preferably also t e strip of sheetmetal is punched, bent and crimped into the requiredshape and heldtogether and secured to the body bar without the use of solder.

The preferred form of constructionv is shown in Figs. 1, 2,3, 6, 7 and9. A strip of sheet metal 5 is punched as shown at the lefthand portionof Fig. 3. A unit section of the strip when thus punched presents arecess 6 extending inward from the front edge of the strip and threetongues 7, 8 and 9. The tongues are bent back during or after thepunching operation into the positions illustrated. The tongue 7 is bentagainst one face of the body of the strip so that it extends wellforwardly of the front edge of the strip to form a threading guideprojection. The tongue 8 is bent against the same face of the body ofthe strip to form a spacing tab. The tongue 9 is pressed so as toproject from the opposite face of the strip to form' a yarninto theshape shown at the right-hand end of Fig. 3 so that each section of thetrip between the adjacent recesses 6 forms a double wall rib 10 with theentire series of such double wall ribs standing parallel and equallyspaced, thereby forming between them at the front portion of the guidevertical yarn passages 11. Those portions 12 of the metal of the stripat the rear of the recesses 6 form the union between the parallel ribs10 and thus form top walls spanning each space at the rear of each yarnpassage and merging into the side walls of the ribs. i

It will thus be seen that the yarnpassages are open at the bottom toprovide entrances for grippers such as shown at 13 in 3. A pair ofgrippers ma therefore enter each yarn pasasge" 11 at t e bottom to seizeand draw down the end of the yarn strand 14. The yarn passages 11 are ofsuch width as to closely fit the grippers and insure the grippers-seizinthe strands of yarn, each of which is thus 'eld and guided into properposition by its yarn passage. It willalso be seen that the yarn passagesare open at the front to provide broadside arn threading entrances. Thisis of great importance because it enables each yarn readily 'tobethreaded into the yarn guide. The

operator may take each yarn strand extending from the spools and pass itbroadside into the proper threading entrance, or the yarn strands mayfirst be placed in a comb and then all of the yarn strandssimultaneously passed broadside into the series of threading entrances,or any other suitable means may be provided for threading the yarn.guide. In order to guide and direct the yarns broadside into theseveral threading passages, the projections 7 are provided and it willbe seenthat these projections 7 constitute yarn threading guideprojections extending forward from and integral with each rib.Consequently as the yarn is brought broadside toward the guide, eachpair of the adjacent projections 7 assist in guiding the yarn into theyarn passage. For this purpose the upper edges of the projections 7 arepreferably bevelled off, as illustrated. Where there is but a singlespool in the tuft frame, or in the case of the central spool where thereare a plurality of spools in the tuft frame, the yarn strands 14, asshown at the central spool 4 in Fig. 1, will all run parallel with theheads of the spool and are readily guided between the respective pairsof projections 7 and broadside into the respective yarn passages. Butwhere there are a plurality of spools, as in the case of the threespools shown in Fig. 1, in a tuft frame, the heads of adjacent spoolswith the interposed bracket take up considerable space so that the yarnstrands at the right and left of the center must converge In orfardescribed, it will be observed, is struck out from one wall of each rib10 and extends between the rib walls forward from each rib,

order to maintain'fthe symmetry and parallelism of the rib walls, thetongues 8 are prothus slightly separating the rib walls. In

vided. Each tongue 8 is therefore an integral tab struck out from onewall of each rib'and preferably the same wall as that from which thetongue 7 is struck out, but at the rear portion of the wall so that thistongue-serves as a slpfcer extending between the rib walls.

order .to hold the yarn strands within the am passages and prevent themfrom passing out through the threading entrance,

retaining fingers are provided, one for each yarn passage, and in theconstruction thus far described these fingers are formed by the tongues9. Each tongue 9 is so positioned in the strip that extends laterallyfrom the rib wall from which it is struck out across the threadingentrance and at its tip stands opposite or slightly enters the aperture15 in the wall of the opposite rib from which the threading guideprojection 7 was struck out. Each tongue therefore constitutes aretaining-finger integral with the yarn guide which extends laterallyfrom each rib across the threading entrance and cooperates at its tipwith an aperture in the-opposite wall. Thus, as illustrated at theright-hand side of Fig. 6, the yarn strand 14 is guided in between theprojections 7 and passes broadside into the threading entrance aroundthe tip of the retaining finger 9 and behind the retaining finger sothat thereafter it cannot pass forwardly out from the yarn passage.

A yarn guide constructed as thus described is readily and accuratelyformed by suitable punching, bending and crimping operations andpresents a series of units of identical shape and position. But there ismore or less yield or give to any given length of such a constructionand it is desirable that there should be a slight yield, especially toenable the series 'of pairs of grippers tocooperatewith the yarn guide.It is necessary, therefore, that the yarn guide shall be accuratelymounted with the yarn passages properly positioned and spaced on thebody bar of the tuft frame, and suitable means are therefore providedfor that purpose. In the preferred construction illustrated, a straightv edge aligning member shown as a metal strip 16 of a thicknesssubstantially equal to the top, wall 12 of the yarn guide is secured tothe bottom surface 17 of the body bar 1 in such" a position that itsfront straight edge 18 is at a somewhat less distance from the frontsurface 19 of the body bar than the length of the top Wall 12. A combplate 20 having uniformly spaced teeth 21 is secured at the bottom ofthe body bar with its teeth extending between the ribs of the yarn guideso as properly to position the yarn guide and at the-same time to pressthe yarn guide against the flat bottom surface 17 of the body bar. Thiscomb 20 and the aligning member 16 may both be rigidly secured in placeby long rivets or bolts 22 extending through the bodv bar. In orderfurther accurately to position the yarn guide and hold it against thestraight edge aligning member 16. a second comb 23 having the teeth 24and of gen erally similar construction to the comb 20 is secured to thefront surface 19 of the body bar with its teeth between the ribs of theyarn guide and bent aroundbeneath the top walls 12 thereof and acting topress the yarn guide against the straight edge 18 of the aligning member16. A little space or wind 25 extends between the comb 23 and the bottomof the front surface of the body bar and the comb 20 is set back so thatthe top wall cannot abut the base of the teeth. Consequently the yarnguide may be very tightly clamped and guide and with the base of thecomb constituting the straight edge aligning member.

A slightly different form of construction of the yarn guide is shown inFigs. 4 and 5. In this construction the parallel-walls forming the ribsare pressed close together without any spacing tabs, thus enabling Wideryarn passages to be secured with sheet metal of -a given thickness. Inthis case therecesses 27 are punched out corresponding to the recesses6. Between each pair of recesses there is punched out a long tab formingthe aperture 28 and in line with this aperture at the front edge ispunched out a short recess.

The long tab is bent inwardly, as shown at 29,'to form the retainingfinger and is also bent parallel with the strip and inserted in therecess in line with the aperture 28 to form the required yarn threadingguide projection 30. But it will be seen that this projection 30 fittingin the recess in line with the aperture 8 lies within the strip so thatwhen the strip is crimped into position, as shown at the right-handsideof Fig. 5, the walls forniing the ribs may be pressed tightlytogether. In

each unit section an aperture 31 is punched out to come opposite theretaining finger 29.

'Another form of construction for widening the thread passage,especially at the bottom portion constituting the gripper entrance. isindicated in Fig. 8 where the double wall ribs '40 are pressedtightlytogether at the bottom and are spaced slightly apart at the top.Thus the lower portions 41 of the thread passages are wider than theupper.

portions and give more room for the operation of the grippers. thusenabling wider gr ppers to be employed. if desired.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. A yarn guide for a tuft yarn frame comprising a strip ofmetal-transversely crimped to present a series of spaced, parallel,double wall ribs, the opposed rib Walls of. adja ent rib sectionsmerging at the top of their rear portions leaving the front portions ofsaid ribs separated to form vertical yarn passages presenting at thefront broadside threading entrances and the said spaced ribs at thebottom presenting gripper entrances.

2. An integral one-piece yarn guide for a tuft yarnframe comprising aseries of parallel, double wall ribs equally spaced .to form yarn'passages, open at the bottom to provide gripper entrances and openat thefront to provide. broadside yarn threading entrances and a top wallspanning each space at the rear of each yarn passage and merging intothe side clined toward the center to correspond substantially with thedirection of the yarn strands leading to the respective threadingentrances.

5. An. integral one-piece yarn guide for a tuft yarn frame comprisingthe construction defined in claim 2, together with an integral retainingfinger extending laterally from each rib across the threading entranceand cooperating at its tip with the opposite rib to permit the broadsidepassage of the yarn through the threading entrance and -to prevent itswithdrawal from the yarn passage through said entrance.

6. An integral one-piece yarn guide for a tuft yarn frame comprising theconstruction defined in claim 2, together with an integral yarnthreading guide projection extending forward from each rib and anintegral retainlng finger extending laterally from each rib across thethreading entrance and cooperating at its tip with the opposite rib topermit the broadside passage of the yarn through the threading entranceand to prevent its withdrawal from the yarn passage through saidentrance. A

'Z. An integral one-piece yarn guide for a tuft yarn frame comprisingthe construction defined in claim 2, together with an integral yarnthreading guide'projection struck out from one wall of each rib andextending between the rib walls forward from each rib,

and an integral retainin finger extending laterally from each rib acrossthe threading entrance and cooperating at its 'tip with the aperture inthe wall of the opposite rib from which the said projection is struckoutto per mit the broadside passage of'the yarn into the yarn passagethrough the threading entrance and to prevent its withdrawal from theyarn passage through said entrance.

- 8. An integral one-piece yarn guide for a tuft yarn frame comprisingthe construction defined in claim 2, together with an integral yarnthreading guide projection struck out from one wall of each rib andextending between the rib walls forward from each. rib, anintegralretaining finger extendinglaterally from each rib across thethreading entrance and cooperating at its tip with the aperture in theWall of the opposite rib from which the said projection is struck out topermit the broadside passage of the yarn into the yarn passage throughthe threading entrance and to prevent its withdrawal from the yarnpassage through said entrance, and an integral tab struck out from onewall of eachrib in the rear portion thereof and extending between therib walls. d

9. A tuft yarn frame having a series of passages to receive yarn andprovided with a series of rigid walls forming entrances for grippersspaced uniformly with said yarn passages, each yarn passage beingprovided with a broadside threading entrance, one of each two adjacentwalls'forming said broadside threading entrance having an aperture andother of said walls having a finger extending therefrom across thebroadside threading entrance with its tip cooperating with said apertureto permit the broadside passage of the yarn into the yarn passagethrough the threading entrance and to prevent its withdrawal from theyarn passage through said entrance.

10. A tuft yarn frame comprising a body bar presenting a fiat bottomsurface, a straight edge aligning member upon and extendinglongitudinally of said bottom surface, a yarn guide presenting a seriesof parallel ribs spaced to form yarn passagesya comb and means forsecuring the comb to the front of the body bar with its teeth betweenthe ribs of the yarn guide and acting to press the yarn guide againstthe straight edge of the aligning meinber.

11. A tuft yarn frame comprising a body bar presenting a flat bottomsurface, a

straight edge aligning member upon and ex tending longitudinally of saidbottom surface, a yarn guide presenting a series of parallel ribs spacedto form yarn passages,

a comb and means for securing the comb at the bottom of the body barwith its teeth between the ribs of the yarn guide and acting to presstheyarn guide against the fiat bottom surface of the body bar.

12. A tuft yarn frame comprising a body bar presenting a flat bottomsurface, alignin-g means upon and extending longitudinally bf saidbottom surface, a yarn guide presenting a series of parallel ribs spacedto form yarn passages, a comb and means for securing the comb to thefront of the body bar with its teeth between the ribs of the yarn guideand acting to" press the yarn guide against said aligning means.

13. A tuft yarn frame comprising bar, a yarn guide presenting a seriesof parallel ribs spaced to form yarn passages, means a body on thebottom surface of the body bar ex-'.' tending longitudinally thereof toalign the rear edge of the yarn guide and space the ribs thereof andmeans on the front of the body bar acting to press the yarn guideagainst said aligning and spacing means.

14. A tuft yarn frame comprising a body bar, a yarn guide presenting aseries of parallel ribs spaced to form yarn passages, means on thebottom surface of the body bar extending longitudinally thereof to alignthe rear edge of the yarn guide, space the ribs thereof and clamp theyarn guide to the body bar and means on the front of the body bar actingto press the yarn guide against said aligning, spacing and clampingmeans.

' 15. A tuft yarn frame comprising a body bar presenting a flat bottomsurface, a straight edge aligning member upon and extendinglongitudinally of said bottom surface, a yarn guide presenting a seriesof parallel ribs spaced to form yarn passages, a comb and means forsecuring the comb at the bottom of the body bar-with its teeth betweenthe ribs of the, yarn guide and acting to press the fyarn guide againstthe flat bottom surface 0 the body bar, and a second comb and means forsecuring the second comb to the front of the body bar with its teethbetween the ribs of the yarn guide and acting to press the am guideagainst the said aligning mem er.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CLINTON ALVORD.

